By ANI
WASHINGTON: Disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, who just lately made his first courtroom look in Los Angeles on Wednesday, pleaded not responsible to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault.
According to Variety, within the courtroom, Weinstein appeared in a wheelchair, together with his fingers shackled to the armrests, whereas carrying a rumpled darkish brown jumpsuit.
He spoke solely as soon as in the course of the transient listening to after Judge Sergio Tapia wished him “good luck.” Replying to it, Weinstein stated, “Thank you very much.”
On Tuesday, the producer was extradited from New York and is presently being held on the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles.
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His legal professional, Mark Werksman, requested for a medical analysis in the course of the listening to. He additionally stated he would file a demurrer, difficult three of the 11 counts on statute of limitations grounds.
The three counts contain rape and sexual assault allegations courting from 2004-05, and a sexual battery cost from 2010.
Outside courtroom, Werksman stated the fees needs to be thrown out as a result of they’re too previous to prosecute, and he added that “they are not corroborated by any scientific evidence.”
Speaking on the topic, Werksman stated, “He absolutely, unequivocally and categorically denies the allegations in this case. We are confident that if we can have a fair trial, Mr Weinstein will be acquitted.”
Prosecutors have stated they’re able to proceed to trial inside 120 days, although pre-trial motions seem more likely to prolong that timetable.
In February 2020, Weinstein was convicted in New York of rape and sexual assault and later sentenced to 23 years in jail. His attorneys have appealed that conviction, arguing that the choose made a collection of defective rulings that denied him a good trial.
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Weinstein faces allegations from 5 girls courting from 2004 to 2013 within the Los Angeles case. He faces a theoretical most of 140 years in jail if convicted on all counts.
In the case, a beforehand sealed indictment has been introduced by the Los Angeles prosecutors, although the existence of the indictment was already recognized as a result of authorized wrangling in New York.
The Los Angeles trial has already been delayed repeatedly as a result of COVID slowdown within the courtroom system. The courts have now resumed holding felony trials, although there stays a big backlog of circumstances.
Weinstein’s attorneys had been preventing the extradition since April, arguing that prosecutors had didn’t submit the correct paperwork and that Weinstein wanted remedy on the Wende Correctional Facility, close to Buffalo, N.Y., for eye illnesses to maintain from going blind.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the district legal professional’s workplace have assured that Weinstein can get satisfactory medical care whereas being held on the Twin Towers facility.
Assuming the New York conviction shouldn’t be overturned, as per Variety, Weinstein can be despatched again to New York to serve the steadiness of his sentence following the Los Angeles trial.
